Karnataka: After Hijab, BJP, Right Wing groups ask Hindus to shun Halal meat

Ahead of the Ugadi festival on April 2, which marks the new year for the Kannadigas and Teluguites in Karnataka, the BJP and some Right Wing organisations have kicked up a controversy by giving a call to all Hindus to shun "halal meat.'' A day after Ugadi, a section of non-vegetarian Hindus offer meat to God to celebrate ``Hosa Todaku'' to mark the start of the new year.

The call has gained momentum after BJP's national general secretary and Chikkamagaluru MLA C T Ravi said Halal food is akin to "economic jihad.'' According to him the Halal meat offered to "their God'' is dear to them (Muslims). But for Hindus it's somebody's leftover. "Halal has been designed in a planned manner so that the products are purchased only from the Muslims and not others,'' he added.

Ravi said such trade practices cannot be one-way traffic. "If Muslims agree to eat non-Halal meat, then Hindus will agree to consume Halal meat,'' he maintained.

The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti functionary Mohan Gowda in a statement said: “Ugadi is a Hindu festival and there is a practice of cooking meat delicacies in Hindu homes. I appeal to all Hindus to boycott Halal meat, because Muslims slaughter the animals with Quranic verses and offer it to Allah. Using this meat for Hindu festival is against Hindu religion.''

The call for shunning Halal meat comes close on the heels of economic boycott of Muslim traders in the coastal regions of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, which eventually spread to Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru districts. At the temple fairs held in these districts after two years due to the pandemic, Muslim vendors were not allowed to participate in the auctioning of shops or to set up stalls in the vicinity of the temples.

The temples management boards cited the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Rules, 2002, made by the Congress government during S M Krishna's tenure, which restricted the auction of temporary stalls only to the Hindu community during the annual festivals at Hindu temples in the state. When the issue was raised by the Congress members in the ongoing legislature session, the state government said there would be no compromise on the rules that have been framed.

Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra has called all these bans by Hindu organisations a “reaction” against the Hijab (headscarf) ban protest. “All of these reactions started after Muslims protested against the high court order in the Hijab case by calling for a Karnataka bandh on March 17. When there is a law and order issue, the home ministry will pay attention to it,” he stated.

Even as the state government has wriggled out of the "ban and boycott'' issues by either remaining silent or citing rules, two of the ruling party legislators have come out in support of the Muslims. BJP MLC A H Vishwanath dubbed the boycott call as "madness'' and sought the state government's intervention. "No God has asked you to ostracise anyone. I don't know why the government is mum over this issue. Are they not citizens of this country, during Partition they refused to go with Jinnah and stayed back. Are they not Indians?'' he asked.

BJP MLA representing Belagavi North Anil Benake said he had ensured that no such restrictions were put in temples in his constituency. "It is wrong to tell people where to buy things from and where not to. It's for them to decide,'' he added.

Meanwhile, 61 writers, intellectuals, professors, activists and citizens, have written to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai raising concerns over the “deliberate attempt to fuel communal hatred in the state.'' In the three-page letter, the group urged the state government to uphold Constitutional values and initiate action against those fuelling communal hatred and disrupting peace and harmony in the state. “Instead of the Bhagavad Gita, teach the Constitution in schools,” the letter said. The BJP government in Karnataka has constituted a committee to study the introduction of Bhagavad Gita in schools from next academic year on the lines of Gujarat.